Everton Insider: TFG to use their biggest asset to entice sale

The Friedkin Group are likely to dangle the carrot of expanding the Hill Dickinson Stadium to anyone who is interested in buying Everton.

That is according to former Toffees chief executive Keith Wyness, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, who believes that the Americans have no intention of tackling the issue themselves.

TFG made their desire to expand the Merseysiders' new home clear when they first bought the club, but they are now actively looking to sell their shares.

Wyness believes that the group will continue to "pitch" the new stadium as the main reason for investors to take the club on, and will also outline the possibility for future development.

Everton's new home currently has a capacity of over 52,000, but Wyness is adamant that a lot would need to fall into place for the club to go above and beyond that.

While the possibility of redevelopment was on the Friedkins' agenda when they first bought in, Wyness believes they will now leave it to the next owners.

Everton capacity increase should have been done already

Everton’s former chief Wyness – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – believes that it would have been far easier and cheaper for his former club to have upped the capacity of the stadium before it was fully built.

However, he now believes that the tight boundaries surrounding the ground due to its proximity to the River Mersey would make it "very tricky" for the capacity to be boosted.

Speaking on the latest edition of Football Insider's Inside Track podcast, Wyness explained that it will not stop TFG from using it as a selling point to offload the club.

"I don't think we'll see the Friedkins tackle it head-on, and I do know that because I've looked at this quite closely. If there was going to be any increase, it should have been done during construction and the redesign of the stadium," he said.

"The actual boundaries of the site itself are very tight because it was a reclaimed dock. And Dan Meis, the architect who built it, said that it's possible to do some sort of configuration at the back of the stands, but it would be very, very tricky to do that.

"I don't think you'll see the Friedkins have the appetite to do that. We've already discussed that they are looking to sell at full value.

"I think that would appear in the pitch document from them to any potential new buyers to say, look, you could improve the capacity. And so I think they will leave it for somebody else. And it won't be that easy."

How long will Everton takeover take?

Former Manchester City financial advisor Stefan Borson told Football Insider on Saturday that it is entirely possible that the Friedkins are already in talks with Everton's potential new owners.

The American group have rocked the Toffees' fanbase with their desire to sell the club, but a full sale is unlikely to happen overnight.

Borson outlined that the full takeover process could still take in excess of six months, even if the next buyers are already at the table.

The Friedkins have been sounding out possible sale options in recent months, and they are now ready to take their efforts to the next level.